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‘Inconvenience ’ To In SummerChannel 23 Expected To Be NBC AffiliateBy RONNIE ZAMORA Herald Staff WriterBrownsville’s first television station, KTDS, Channel 23, is expected to be an affiliate of the NBC network when the station begins operations this summerFederal Communications Commission(FCC) rules state that KGBT, Channel 4 in Harlingen, must give up one of its two network affiliates to KTDS. KGBT officials are expected to make their final decision before June and it is anticipated that KGBT will give up the NBC network to KTDS.KGBT has split its programming with the CBS and NBC networks for the past five years. On April 12,1976, KRGV in Weslaco, Channel 5, became the Valley’s full-time ABC affiliate, surrendering NBC to Channel4. KGBT is expected to keep the CBS network, currently leading the network ratingsrace.Meanwhile, officials at Channel 23 are remodeling their main studio located at 500 N.Expressway, a two-story, 16,000-square-foot building, formerly a popular nightclub. KTDS, which stands for the Tierra del Sol Broadcasting Co., also will have a studio in McAllen.Having three networks in the Valley will bring us out of the dark ages,” said Peter Dean, chairman of the board for KTDS. “The way I see it, the Valley is a city of 450,000people and a city that big should have three networks. It’s going to relieve a lot of inconvenience.”Most inconvenienced now are the viewing public and Channel 4 programming directors, who must decide which CBS and NBC shows to air, since Channel 4 is obligated to air programs from both.However, Channel 4 officials are not upset because they must give up a network.“It’s inevitable that there is a third network in the Valley,” said KGBT station manager David Lykes. ‘‘We re glad to see it happen. It’ll be good for the viewing audience to have a choice of three networks.”One problem Channel 4 will no longer haveif it decides to give up NBC as expected is NBC promoting its own programs Channel 4 does not plan to air.“Sometimes our audio people miss it,” Lykes added “We’ll cut the audio when NBC promotes its own shows. That happens a lot on sports programs.“We try to program as much of the best of NBC. Sometimes it’s* hard to explain to people calling and complaining why a show is promoted and then not shown.”Channel 4 currently airs three daily shows, four weekly shows and other shows, movies and sports of interest to Valley viewers. The season’s top-rated NBC program, “Sho-Gun,” was not broadcast by Channel 4. Channel 23 officials are planning to hit theValley market in full stride when the station goes on the air.The management structure already has begun. General manager is Darrell Davis, an attorney originally from Weslaco who formerly was anchorman for Channel 4 in the early 1970s. Davis came to KTDS from the NBC affiliate in Fort Smith, Ark., where he also served as general manager.Other management personnel already on the job include operations manager Joe Dempsey, who also came from Fort Smith, and technical director Terry Ray, a Brownsvillenative.“We have always expected to wind up with NBC,” said Davis. “NBC has always been without a full-time affiliate in the Valley and we’d be delighted to have them.”Original plans had the station to begin operations in February. However, the target date has been pushed back several times and the present target date is “mid-July or the first of August at the latest” for KTDS to be on the air, Davis added.‘ ‘We want everything in place when we begin operations. One of the things 1 learned atFort Smith was not to rush things. We want to be full fledged from the day we sign on theair, he continued.Davis said the station would definitely be on the air before the new season begins, usually the first week of September.KTDS will field a news department and will have newscasts at 6 and 10 p.m. Applications for positions in the newsroom, production, sales and clerical work are available. Davis said the station will employ about 35 to 40 persons.Valley Cable TV will be required to carry KTDS, but regional manager Neil Haman was uncertain where on the cable network Channel 23 would be carried since the new station is on the UHF (ultra high frequency) network. Channels 4 and 5 are on the VHF network. “It’ll have to be somewhere between 2 and 13,” Haman said. “It’ll depend on what major network they wind up carrying.” Cable Channel 8 currently carries shows from the NBC affiliate in Corpus Christi, KRIS, but Haman said he “will not carry two NBC affiliates” on thecable system.
Newspaper Details
Brownsville Herald
Brownsville, Texas, US
Sun, Jan 11, 1981
Page 78
Full Page
Clipped by
Sammi B.
NA 19 Mar 2023
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